Our Eternal Armor

Prepared for print by Shmuel Botnick

Wherever you live, whatever you do, if you are a believing Jew, you know that these times demand extraordinary measures. Our nation is under attack and even from afar, we each have a role to play. Rav Uri Deutsch, mara d’asra of Lakewood’s Forest Park community, sheds light on the cosmic nature of this battle, the spiritual ammunition we must utilize, and the proper attitude to fuel our avodas Hashem.

The Jews of Eretz Yisrael are currently engaged in a terrible conflict against Hamas. But seen from a more spiritual perspective, this isn’t limited to a single location or terrorist group; it’s a battle between Klal Yisrael and Yishmael, in which each and every Yid is a warrior. The first thing an army must do is identify the enemy. Who is Yishmael? What does it represent and what is its role in the world’s destiny?

Many in our community still remember when Rav Yitzchak Hutner was taken hostage by Palestinian hijackers in Elul 5731 (1970). After he was released, he delivered a ma’amar in which he discussed the difference between Galus Edom and Galus Yishmael.

In describing the leaders of Edom, the Torah uses the term melachim, kings. The Torah names the chieftains of Yishmael as well, yet does not reference them as melachim. Rav Hutner explains that the term “king” is tied to territorial dominion. The chieftains of Edom were granted an element of command over the region that was allotted to them. Yishmael, on the other hand, has no possessory hold over any territory. To this day, it remains a stateless nation.

Rav Hutner goes on to say that this is the deeper significance of Yishmael’s expulsion from Avraham’s home, as the Torah describes in parshas Vayeira. The eternal repercussions of this act have Yishmael playing no role in our spiritual destiny of Avraham’s household and deprived of any claim to his legacy. Therefore, his rage is that of the utterly dispossessed.